Don’t put too much stock in Cowboys’ preseason record

Bill Parcells is worried about the Dallas Cowboys’ first-team defense.

That may sound silly considering the unit has allowed only three points through three preseason games, but Parcells has good reason to be concerned.

“They have not been tested,” Parcells said after the Cowboys defeated the 49ers 17-7 on Saturday to raise their preseason record to 3-0. “They have only been out there 15 plays a half, 17 plays a half and that is not a normal half. You are usually going to get 30-32, so we are only getting about half of what we should be getting.”

Cornerback Terence Newman said he shares Parcells’ concerns. The 49ers ran only 18 plays in the first half compared to 42 for the Cowboys.

“We haven’t been on the field,” Newman said. “The offense has been on the field so much that they’ve been taking plays away from us. It’s been pretty easy for us. We haven’t played a lot the last two ball games.”

The defense also hasn’t seen a lot of exotic formations, shifts or patterns when it has been on the field.

We’ve been playing pretty solid football, but, at the same time, what we’ve seen has been pretty simple,” Newman said. “Teams aren’t showing us everything they have in their playbook because it’s just preseason.”

Playing New Orleans and San Francisco hasn’t helped either. Parcells won’t admit it, but the quality of his team’s opponents has been rather poor since the preseason opener in Seattle on Aug. 12.

The Cowboys have had their way the last two games with teams that may combine for less than 10 victories this season.

Dallas can go undefeated in the preseason for the first time since 1985 if it defeats Minnesota on Thursday. The ’85 squad won the NFC East Division with a 10-6 record only to get drubbed 20-0 by the Los Angeles Rams in the divisional round of the playoffs.

The Cowboys teams that won Super Bowls after the 1992, 1993 and 1995 seasons all had losing records in the preseason.

So what does it all mean? Simply this — preseason results don’t matter. The Cowboys will have to wait until Sept. 10 in Jacksonville to find out what kind of team they have.